Social Media in Foodservice – as featured in QuickBite Magazine
Twitter, Facebook, Google +, Instagram, LinkedIn…the list goes on. Sometimes it feels as if there is a new social media channel to consider every six months. Is it for me? How does it work? Will I be left behind if I decide it’s just one channel too many?
We feel your pain. Hopefully this bite-sized review will help you decide.
Each successful social media channel has a key distinguishing feature that makes them unique, and which they hope will gain them their following.
Here’s our list of the primary social media channels, what makes them unique, and what benefit you might gain from them.
A great site for sending short updates to your following, and a simple way to gain a following. Tweets are quick to compose and quick to read resulting in the huge growth in uptake in recent years. #hashtags mean you can easily join larger conversations and the SEO benefits of being part of these conversations are growing.
The ‘like’ button on Facebook is the easiest way to allow your brand to be promoted to prospects, and a successful company page invests in publishing content of real value to your audience, increasing your chances of a ‘thumbs up’ – play to the strengths of the platform building your reach through joining groups.
Make the most of a workforce who very possibly already have a presence and connections Create a business page for staff to follow, join relevant groups on LinkedIn and ensure that your services are updated so that premium members who use LinkedIn to find suppliers, find you.
Is your product or service a visual one. Are you either a premium product or brand that is shown off best in beautiful photographs? Do you find your competitors or conversations around your product or service via hashtag searches on Instagram? If so, this might well be for you.
Similar to Instagram in some senses but built around ‘Pins’ which are links back to a webpage containing the original content. This has real benefits in terms of SEO and also in driving leads back to your website. Still a significantly female audience, but if that’s what you’re after it might be for you.
Google +
If the majority of your new business leads are from search traffic then Google + might just be the platform for you. Due to it’s integration with the search engine giant, it is an easy SEO win to link your Google + account with your website.
As with any content marketing online, be it social or otherwise, we would always encourage businesses to think from the user back, rather than brand forward.
Find out which social media channels your audience use and what they use them for. Then decide what content you can easily develop that has real value to the end user; be it an online tool, white paper or video.
Broadcast this on social media and your audience will share the content for you, amplifying your business’ reach.
If you’re looking for a digital marketing agency, get in touch!